Your Immune Wellness and Resilience

Immune boosting recipes   Sauerkraut recipe   Kimchi recipe  Oxymel Recipe

What a year of huge transformation we are having. In Australia it began with a fire season being the worst on record and now heading into winter we are dealing with Covid-19, one of the most virulent flu epidemics the world has seen. Due to so much uncertainty, this virus is already causing much anxiety in our community.

This articles’ aim is to empower and inform you with relevant nutrients to incorporate in your diet and self care to support us as we face one of our biggest challenges.

Before I go on about nutrients and all of the things…I invite you to take a deep breath…if you are feeling scared or stressed or worried about the future. Just for a minute tap into that feeling instead of consciously trying to push it away or abandon this feeling from your body. There may be a message in this for you? If you don’t want to do this gentle nurturing exercise skip forward to ‘The next part of this article is the business end…..’

You may like to ask someone to read this exercise for you……

Take a deep breathe in through your nose, close your eyes. Take another. Now check in with yourself. Where do you feel this feeling in your body? Put a hand gently and lovingly there…like you would when tending to a small child. Take another breathe or two, deeply into your belly. Really settle into this feeling and acknowledge it. Feel it in the safety of where you are positioned. Now without any judgement from the mind, I want you to just take in the first thing that comes to mind when you ask yourself the following question.

With your hand on your body / feeling.

ASK: “What is it you need from me right in this moment?”

I invite you to have no judgement about your answer. Just honour whatever comes first into your head. Now take a breathe and anouther in through your nose and out through your mouth. Take your time.

If you don’t want to read further today. That is so totally ok. You may want to save this for anouther time.

Gentle self nurturing exercises are the best medicine you can give yourself at this time. These support our nervous system and also align our our immune system to do the job it knows how to do. They take us to the practice of soothing our over stimulated sympathetic nervous system, which is a contributor to recurrent infections. - will explain more about that in anouther article.

Stay safe and the most perfect and imperfect version of your self.

The next part of this article is the business end…..

Current recommendations to help prevent the spread of ‘the virus’ (you know which one I am talking about… a clue…we are in April 2020) are common-sense recommendations which are applicable to viruses such as influenza, and especially apply to people travelling or working in healthcare. Links to find these are constantly being updated. The WHO recommendations are being updated regularly as are our local state and federal recommendations here:

Stay up to date with your local departments - Department of Health - VICTORIA

Dietary for Immune Wellness

The following dietary recommendations are based on an anti-inflammatory dietary principles. Hypothesis’ being, systemic inflammation is associated with adverse outcome with Covid-19 and other SARs type viruses. See - Lancet Article - Immunosuppression for hyper inflammation in COVID-19: a double-edged sword?

There is much of research on metabolic syndrome, T2 diabetes and systemic inflammation and the link between inflammatory diets and the immune system, contributing to all kinds of dis-ease in the body. All the more reason to implement changes in your diet that are doable and realistic. Having worked in a clinic with a cardiologist and podiatrist in two other rooms. I gained a LOT of experience working with T2 diabetic patients and highly stressed people for much of the beginning my career and I can say dietary changes are the best and simplest way to support optimal wellness and resolve many diseases.

How Sugar Disables Your Immune System with of scientific articles attached.

These recommendations go above and beyond government health recommendations for diet.

This is what I recommend for my clients for ‘optimal’ immune & nervous system wellness.

Drink at least 2lt filtered or spring water.

To help increase your water consumption try Ginger slices in hot water. Turmeric latte or chai – with non dairy milk. …Including bone broths (if not vegetarian), soups, miso and avoid sugary and caffeinated drinks. If you become suddenly unwell, sipping bone broths and warm drinks is important to keep up hydration.

Get adequate sleep & rest. This gives your body a chance to heal. - If you struggle with sleep, I can support you with this.

Incorporate joyful activities in your day to support your nervous and immune system.

Include healing activities like yoga, walking in nature, meditation….and a joyful activities daily.

Clearing mucous at home

1-2 drops of eucalyptus or tea tree in a steam face bath can help clear mucous and reduce bacteria in the nasal passages.

Eat a rainbow of fresh fruit and vegetables - broccoli, fresh grated beetroot & carrot salads.  Eat all berries, carrot, kiwi, red capsicum, red grapes....just eat a rainbow of RED, YELLOW & ORANGE VEGETABLES & fruit daily with a focus on organic.  Include lots of garlic & ginger in your diet!  Try sipping sliced ginger in water throughout the day. Avoid the inside shelves of the supermarket and go for fresh food as much as possible.  Eat soups, broths, stir fries and good old casseroles with lots of veg.  This should ensure good vitamin C, carotenoids and antioxidants that are beneficial for optimal immune function.

Here are some Immune boosting recipes.

Protein

Adequate intake of dietary protein is imperative for healthy immune function.
Think mushrooms, lentils, sprouted legumes, beans, nuts; almonds, cashews, oily fish; sardines, salmon, mackerel, tuna, some chicken and a little red meat.

A Whole-food Diet
A whole-food diet is one that is based upon fresh, whole foods that are as close to their natural state as possible. Another benefit of whole-foods is that they contain a range of nutrients found occurring naturally in their correct ratios, these nutrients work together synergistically to benefit the immune system. Refined foods on the other hand may have nutrients stripped out of them and then added back in.  

Immune boosting recipes   Sauerkraut recipe   Kimchi recipe  Oxymel Recipe

Dietary Exclusions

Sugar
Sugar is an immune suppressant with studies showing intake of sugar reduces the capacity of the white blood cells to function properly. Immune suppression has been shown to be at its highest 1–2 hours after consumption.

Caffeine
Chronic and excessive intake of caffeine is likely to function as a stressor to the already depleted immune system. Furthermore caffeine functions as a diuretic promoting the loss of much needed nutrients and therefore is not recommended where there is suboptimal immunity. Sources of caffeine include coffee, tea and energy drinks.

AVOID Preservatives, Colourings, Additives
Preservatives, colourings and additives are unnatural substances and foreign to the body and therefore should be avoided. Eat food that looks like its original form.

Micronutrients Used to prevent & Treat Acute Infection

Vitamin C & Zinc

C & Zinc powder daily to support yours and your families general immune health. (NOT the chewy vitamin C lollies - a quality powder version is best). Maintenance doses 1-2g Vitamin C. Zinc may need to be determined according to your current levels, health status and dietary intake.

Vit C is seen to significantly reduces the duration and severity of the common cold, shortens the time of confinement indoors, and relieves cold symptoms including chest pain, fever, and chills in adults and children (Vit C>0.2 g/day, or therapeutic doses of 4 – 8g/day). Significantly reduces severity of pneumonia and risk of death in the elderly. May dose-dependently reduce the duration of pneumonia in adults. 

Zinc: Reduces duration and severity of the common cold in children and adults (>75mg/day). Zinc: reduces incidence of otitis media in children (5 - 50mg/day). May reduce incidence of lower RTI in children (20 – 140mg/week). Reduces risk of RTI, pneumonia, dysentery and diarrhoea in children. - Zinc containing foods are oysters, red meat, nuts and seeds (especially pumpkin seeds) contain reasonable zinc levels.

Vitamin D

Vitamin D is imperative for our immune system function.

How are your vitamin D levels? We want to see them above >100 going into winter.

Check your vitamin D status – if low  (<80 or lower) – increase vitamin D to 5000IU daily for 1 month then decrease. 

Recent Research in British Medical Journal - Vitamin D supplementation to prevent acute respiratory tract infections: systematic review and meta-analysis of individual participant data https://www.bmj.com/content/356/bmj.i6583

If your levels are below 100, I strongly recommend a quality vitamin D. Not Caltrate! - Sorry…Not sorry!
A sublingual spray or liquid to bypass the gut and at least 15mins per day of sunlight on your skin without sunscreen.

If you have any questions about how to increase your vitamin D levels make a time to see me online. Short consultations are available.

N-acetylcysteine

There is also some fairly decent research for the use of N-acetylcysteine. - Which I have used successfully with patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), bronchitis, immune support for many years & lung scarring in my elderly clients.  It is known to break up mucous in the lungs and is a very strong antioxidant used for drug detoxification.

Here is a meta-analysis for your reference. - Influence of N-acetylcysteine on chronic bronchitis or COPD exacerbations: a meta-analysis.

Herbal medicines previously used with SARs

There are specific herbs to improve immunity, those with anti-viral properties and anti-inflammatory effects.  My recommendation is to seek specific advice from a qualified herbalist, as some herbs are contraindicated in certain conditions.

From Doreen Schwegler - naturopath - Top two herbals used preventatively in COVID-19 used in 23 provinces in China contain Astragalus & Liquorice.  Western herbs shown to be active against SARS Cov1 (in tests tubes and humans) include Baical Scullcap (containing scutellarein that inhibits SARS-Cov enzymes), Sweet Wormwood (Artemisia annua that demonstrates anti SARS effect from screening analysis); Buplerum (prevents early stage infection, including attachment and penetration) & Andrographis (anti-viral). Medicinal mushrooms have some evidence of use and elderberry and St. John’s Wort have anti-viral properties.

Other immune supportive medicinals include Echinacea, Olive leaf & medicinal mushroom blends are my current favourite that help balance the immune system, that include Shitake and Reishi (ensure the product contains good beta-D-glucans levels and it mentions the actual mushrooms it contains).

Phone your GP or medical clinic if you think you need help.

I hope some of this was helpful for your to start implementing at home. If you feel need support, I am opening up some additional short appointment times this week and for the next few weeks as needed. If you need to review your health, have any concerns or want to individualise an immune protocol for your family make a time for booking in an online consultation.

I am here to help.

With love
Christine x

IMPORTANT LINKS AT THIS TIME:

Centres for Disease & Prevention

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/index.html 

Stay up to date with - Department of Health - VICTORIA

https://www.health.gov.au/news/health-alerts/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov-health-alert

World Health Organisation

https://www.who.int/

Sources & other references:

Influence of N-acetylcysteine on chronic bronchitis or COPD exacerbations: a meta-analysis.

Effect of tart cherry juice (Prunus cerasus) on melatonin levels and enhanced sleep quality.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00394-011-0263-7

Gombart, A. F., Pierre, A., & Maggini, S. (2020). A Review of Micronutrients and the Immune System–Working in Harmony to Reduce the Risk of Infection. Nutrients, 12(1), 236. 

5 Natural Ways to Support your COVID-19/Coronavirus Risk - DOREEN SCHWEGLER

Christine Carley is a bachelor qualified naturopath, with a focus on women’s health and wellness. She passionately supports her clients with, fertility and IVF optimisation, menopause and hormonal health as well as gut health. She spent most of her early clinical practice working with people with chronic and complex autoimmune condition, whilst working in a clinic with cardiologist, psychologists, podiatrist and allied health professionals. She loves assisting those stress, anxiety, fatigue and sleep. She is a passionate health ambassador who takes a holistic, person centred approach to the wellness model of health.

Book an appointment or free online discovery call here: bookings here: LOVE THY HEALTH or call 0409027221

*National and International Telehealth available

The Number One Principle for Health & Why Self Care is So Important

Hello to you All,

I thought I would check in with you all today.   This was prompted by a client I saw who came to see me after thinking about it for a number of years.   I had been seeing his partner for a long time, but hadn't seen her for a year so I though she had gone on her merry way.    He had been struggling with chronic health conditions for more than 20 years and he came to see me for his gut health and general well being.   We had a really beautiful first consultation.  At the end when he was leaving, he turned around and said "I have got to say something.  I have been meaning to see you for years."   He had tears in his eyes...and I really stopped, listened and waited, as he couldn't quite get the words out.   He said:  "I have seen what you have done for my wife and today I feel like I have truly been heard.  I feel like I have had so many questions answered, that have been unanswered for such a long time.   I feel like I have been waiting for this for a long time".    In his own words, he gave me his deep gratitude and thanks.   He was paying me gratitude for the space he had been given.   He was also paying gratitude to himself for giving himself the space he obviously had been waiting to give for many years.  - I am not sure if he knows this yet.   

This is why I love, this work.  I love what I choose to do.

What I wanted to talk about before I got into that story today is committing to your health and how to do that.  What I realised, also took me a long time and many years to realise.  It was my own commitment to my own health and my mental health that would be the turning point for me on my own journey.  

So Here is the Number One Principle for Health

You might need a pen.  This is a tip, an idea, a seed that I am planting.  I wasn't ready for it for a long time.

This is the talk I have with many of my clients.

Principle number one

Principle number one Is committing to making your health, your number one priority.  This means believing that you are a valuable person.   This also means (and this includes mums', dads' and animal lovers), this means you are the most important person in your life.   Because without putting on our oxygen mask in the plane, we cant help anyone else.   When we do put on our oxygen mask on first in the plane, it is a trickle down effect.   We sit at the top of the pyramid in our world and below that are our first most important people, below that are our other important people and so on.... and below that is then being able to help a whole lot of other people, beings and animals.

This is truly how I feel in my heart much deeper now that I have my own health in a place where I can truly say, I feel the most vital and energetic that I have ever been.  When I was in the deepest illness called fibromyalgia for many years, I didn't have the ability to help others.  Now I feel I do.

I still hold and practice principle number one.    If my health and well being is the most important, then I am able to help other people.  I get more clarity on this if ever I get sick or I go on holidays and I take care of my self.

How Do I Do this?

The way to do this is to have an open mind.  It can be a really different way of thinking for some people, to put themselves first when they continually put their children, their puppies or their parents first.  They put this on hold or that on hold, because I cant do this.  I hear it a lot.  I hear from my older clients who are in their 60s say, "I cant do anything for my health until I have mum or dad sorted out.".  There is always going to be an excuse.

So if you are open minded and are willing to explore the cause of your dis-ease.  You need to be willing to put yourself at the top.

I had to share this with you after my beautiful restorative yoga class at Dharma Circle, which I highly recommend if you are willing.  This is when I get clarity.  To make time for yourself, sometimes you need to get the old stuff out of the way and bring in the new concepts and ideas and allocate 'you' time.  Time for your well being.  Especially if your excuse is "I don't have time because"  ...you can map your week out on a timetable.  Allocate work time and play time.  Especially for those Virgos who like to map things out.

Self care for you may look like....

Meditation & Yoga

Walking in nature

A little country hike

Dancing or dancing classes

Running

Self development workshops

A Health Retreat

Walking with your face in the sun

A massage

Deep breathing techniques

Weekends away

A regular holiday

True healing happens when you learn to listen to the messages of your body and you put your health, your mind and prioritise your time first.

I wanted to share this with you today because we are all worthy and special human beings.

If you have any words of wisdom or questions to share.  Please pop them on this thread.  We can all benefit from your innate wisdom too.

Enjoy the sunshine.

Love Chris x

Here is a wonderful morning meditation from Abraham Hicks - CLICK HERE

Christine Carley is a bachelor qualified naturopath, with a focus on women’s health and wellness. She passionately supports her clients with, fertility and IVF optimisation, menopause and hormonal health as well as gut health. She spent most of her early clinical practice working with people with chronic and complex autoimmune condition, whilst working in a clinic with cardiologist, psychologists, podiatrist and allied health professionals. She loves assisting those stress, anxiety, fatigue and sleep. She is a passionate health ambassador who takes a holistic, person centred approach to the wellness model of health.

Book an appointment or free online discovery call here: LOVE THY HEALTH or call 0409027221

*National and International Telehealth available

For more on her retreats and holistic wellness program touch here:

FACEBOOK or INSTAGRAM

or call (61+) 0409027221